In earlier years Washington had noted the beauty of the broad eminence on which the Capitol was destined to be reared, and had marked the breadth of the picture and the strong colors of the landscape with its environing wall of wooded heights, which rolled back against the sky as if to inclose a beautiful area fit for the supreme deliberation of the governmental affairs of a great Republic in the New World, founded on the truths “that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” These truths, as set forth in the unanimous declaration of the thirteen original colonies of the United States of America adopted July 4, 1776, formed the basis of the Magna Charta of American liberty, known to us as the Declaration of Independence. HISTORY OF EARLY SETTLEMENTS ALONG THE POTOMAC Somewhat more than a century and a half before (in 1608) Capt. John Smith and his men sailed up the Patawomeck and visited the site of the future Federal City. The famous adventurer only partially explored the country, the principal item in the log book of his voyage being that they found the river full of luscious fish and its shores lined with ferocious savages. They met with opposition from Chief Powhatan and were subject to continual attacks. Nevertheless the exploration was continued up the Potomac as far as Little Falls, about 5 miles above the city of Washington. At the time of this exploration there were about 30 tribes, principal and subordinate, living along the shores of Chesapeake Bay in Maryland and Virginia. The chief of these principal tribes were the Powhatans, the Manahoacs, and the Monacans. The Powhatans lived along the shores of the Chesapeake as far north as the Patuxent in Maryland, and the other two lived in the territory contiguous to the York and Potomac Rivers. The Manahoacs and the Monacans, who were continuously at war with the Powhatans in Virginia, inhabited the present District of Columbia. The Manahoacs were almost exterminated by war, pestilence, and spirituous liquors, and about 1712 migrated to the west, joining the Iroquois and the Tuscaroras. Among the smaller tribes were the Nacotchants and the Toags, who were friendly to Capt. John Smith. The Toags lived near Mount Vernon, as is shown by the name Tauxement on Capt. John Smith’s map. The Moyaones lived directly opposite Mount Vernon, in Maryland, at the mouth of the Piscataway. The Nacotchants lived just below the Eastern Branch, within the District of Columbia.